UN says death toll from Libya floods includes 400 migrants

An aerial view of devastation after the floods in Derna, Libya on September 18, 2023 [Halil Fidan – Anadolu Agency]

A UN humanitarian office report said, on Tuesday, that some 400 migrants were killed in the floods that hit eastern Libya last week, citing hospital reports, Reuters reports.

The report quoted the UN health agency, the World Health Organisation, as saying that 4,000 deaths had, so far, been reported in Libya by hospitals, including 400 migrants.

Thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants are temporarily based in Libya and many make the perilous Mediterranean crossing each year to flee poverty and conflict.

The International Organisation for Migration had previously said that over 100,000 migrants lived in flood-hit areas, including more than 8,000 in the city of Derna. They are mostly from Chad, Egypt and Sudan, it said.

READ: Journalists ordered out of flood-hit Libya city after protests

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